Caroline Wozniacki moves past Simona Halep to open her account – Dubai Championships 2012
Former World Number one, Caroline Wozniacki, bamboozled the 20-year-old Romanian, Simona Halep, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3 during the second round clash of the Dubai Duty Free Championships. The qualifier tried her best to make an impact but only lasted an
hour and 11 minutes.
They had never faced each other so the match started in shaky fashion. However, there were no early breakthroughs for either of the contenders. Scores kept ticking over and progressed to 3-2 in favour of the Dane who was the first to clasp on the breakpoint.
Her lead was further enhanced 5-2 courtesy a comprehensive serve hold.
Halep was running short of games and needed to fight back as soon as possible. She was under pressure and failed to deliver as she lost service game that confirmed the opening set triumph for the third seed Dane. It was difficult for the Romanian youngster
to meet the class of the Dane who was in no mood to spare her anything.
The momentum stayed with the Dane and she took the first three games of the second set; including a breakthrough. Halep fought back with a breakpoint in the fifth game but her serve was broken in the following game that kept the Dane’s lead intact.
A couple of breakpoints were swapped in the following two games that further enhanced the situation for Wozniacki with scores progressing to 5-3 in her favour. She was serving to take the match and dropped no point on her final serve; giving a strong message
to all her critics that she is back in form and means business.
On her thumping triumph, Wozniacki said, "It's a great feeling to be back. I see my picture together with all the other champions and lifting the trophy, it's a great feeling. I wish it could be like this every week. It's nice to see I have some fans here
- they were definitely yelling pretty loud out there tonight!"
This triumph has laid the foundation for the Dane to return to form and show the World that she is not a choker. Her big test starts in the quarter-final match against another former World Number one, Ana Ivanovic. The Serb defeated Monica Niculescu in the
opening clash and carried her sublime touch in the second round; ousting the Russian beauty queen, Maria Kirilenko in straight sets. It will be a great match up to witness.
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